Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
[SOM #108]
This is the first of a series of podcasts covering the full history of Disney’s animated classics. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is with us every step of the way.
It is without question that animated cinematic features throughout the 20th Century were defined by this company. Learn more about the studio, the animators and how the animation techniques changed with the time, as well as what the world was doing when each film was released. Also find out which films we love, which ones we don’t and more importantly, why.
This first one, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was their pilot of sorts. A proof of concept that also happens to be the perfect representation of a fairy-tale told absolutely straight with 1930s sensibilities and the tiniest, most naive children in mind. Alex isn’t a huge fan, but he does like one character rather a lot. Dan is filled with admiration for how they could achieve this excellence first time, simply as part of their learning process.
Since this is an unabashed analysis that pulls no punches, bad language is used but it is bleeped for the benefit of children.
Be sure to find us, follow us, like us and email us.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/digitaldriftuk
Twitter: @DigitalDriftUK
Email:
Website: www.digitaldrift.co.uk
And if you like the work we put out the best way to support us is going to…
Digital Drift and New Century Patreon: www.patreon.com/newcentury
[Star Ratings are from Alex’s point of view. It doesn’t represent Sharon or Dan’s.]
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
February 9, 2015
Good episode, really looking forward to listening to these alongside the films as much as I can. It felt a bit short, though – half the running time was made up of the history of Disney and then once you put in the audio clips there seemed to be very little time left to talk about the film itself.
Are you really going to save ALL comments about the princesses until the “Disney Princesses” podcast? Is that going to be after you’ve gone through all the films, so… some time in early 2016? This seems like a mistake as it unnecessarily cripples the individual film reviews. Obviously Snow White herself is a very flat character, but what really struck me on rewatching the film is the way she instantly assumes the role of mother to the dwarfs. She doesn’t even seem to think about it, it’s almost a reflex – here are some small people, I guess I’d better look after them. I remembered her acting as a maid, cooking and cleaning, but she also makes them wash their hands, kisses them goodbye in the morning and scolds them like a mother when they “misbehave”. And on the other side, they’re all happy to accept that treatment (except Grumpy). Even Doc, who’s supposed to sort of be the leader. Her innate motherliness is basically her defining character trait, which makes her somewhat distinct from other Disney princesses who tend to be coded as adolescents. It’s kind of weird and interesting when looked at through a modern lens.
Maybe you were planning to talk about all this in the Disney Princess podcast, but I dunno, I think it’s pretty relevant to this film too and leaving it until next year is a bit disappointing.
BTW, you mentioned the idea of a feature length Merry Melodies short, but if you think about it, that’s basically Dumbo. Minimal plot, story mostly told through music and slapstick rather than dialogue, a ton of self-contained setpieces (such as the men setting up the tent, the clowns, and the pink elephants song) that don’t really move the story forward but are super fun and creative.